Wow, going through this week was like going through a hurricane!

I’m glad this week is over.

For as much bad stuff that went on this week there was a whole lot of good stuff that happened to for which I was very grateful...

Tanya called out of the blue and it was very nice to hear from her. I got a bunch more yardwork done. The weather was really beautiful throughout the week. I got to see Mike, Bruce, Guy and Brian all in rapid succession and got a chance to catch up with each of them. Out of the blue I got a call for a smidgen of work (thank you Lorenz) and as a result got a chance to see Dean.

So, overall even though the week was really, really hard, I made it through and looking back I was glad with the way I dealt with things.

On Friday, the day I worked, I found myself downtown again for the first time in a long time. The client I worked for is located off of Wall Street. I’d been downtown maybe twice since September 11th, 2001 - one time to pick up something at J and R and another to drop off Christmas presents to the same client. Neither time did I wind up walking along Broadway above Trinity Church.

After being a “warm body” for a dog and pony show for the aforementioned client (probably some of the easiest money I’ve made outside of focus group stuff I’ve snagged through the years), I found myself walking with Dean in the warm Friday afternoon air up along Broadway having an animated political conversation as Dean got in his afternoon dosage of nicotine in the brief stroll.

Just past Trinity Church is some building or other with a plaza situated to the south of it. The plaza has probably been there for years, I never took notice of it. It has to even date back to the days when I drove a cab.

In the clear afternoon sun you could see all the way over to the Winter Garden on West Street. I’m not the morbid sort and I’ve gone out of my way to avoid going around “Ground Zero.” I have very clear memories of what was there and when I was a much younger man I worked for a time, at night, directly across the street from the WTC complex on Church Street in the large Post Office which services the financial district.

I worked a midnight to eight shift and was living in Hoboken at the time. Many the night, I would go to work in the very crisp winter air marveling at the quiet beauty of the neighborhood.

There was an interesting dichotomy to the neighborhood. The modern imposing complex which centered around the twin towers contrasted less than a block away with the much, much smaller buildings who were the original inhabitants of the area. Somehow, even though the buildings of the Trade Center dwarfed their neighbors, they all seemed to manage to go together, the small open lot of Trinity Church with it’s very old cemetery (one of very few in Manhattan), the buildings with delis and the like across from it and the very modern complex to the south and west.

At night it would be a very deserted and peaceful area to walk around but, the lights and the breeze coming in off of the bay combined to make it such a beautiful part of the city (this of course predates Battery Park City and the World Financial Center which came much later).

Anyway, the point is I never really had that image of the area with the Battery Park City complex fixed in my mind but looking west from Broadway, I could see the new buildings (Battery Park City) but there was this large, open, empty space where I remembered the Towers being. Church Street widened out in front of the Towers if I remember correctly and there was a drive in front of the Towers as well.

Over the last week, there’s been so much coverage of the event. Plus, all the opinions about the site, about how to remember the day, even whether or not people liked what was done in observance of the date.

Walking past that large open space I returned once again to something which had resonated within me throughout the previous week - you can’t please everyone.

Close the wound, build something! Let’s get moving!

THE ASSASSINS
This was an offshoot of the Ismaili sect (led by the Aga Khan today) founded c. 1090, by Hasan ibn al-Sabah when he captured the mountain fortress of Alamut (south of the Caspian Sea). Some have compared them to Al-Quaeda, but they were more Murder Incorporated than Al-Quaeda, since they would only target individual enemies who they considered dangerous, mostly their fellow Moslems, & not innocent bystanders.

There is a belief that they would drug naïve young Moslems, who would wake in the garden of the Assassins’ Persian mountain stronghold, believing that they were in Paradise. This would be theirs if they carried out an assassination as ordered by someone that they believed to be the Prophet himself. This may have been a story put about by their enemies. The word assassin itself is Arabic for hashish takers.

Alamut was destroyed by the Mongols on the way to Baghad (by a trick) & the Syrian branch of the sect was destroyed by Sultan Baybars I.

So, I had my really, really bad day.

Next day... sun comes up, I go outside, the weather is nice, I do yardwork most of the day. I’m still feeling the crappy effects of the really bad day before - it’s hard to shake.

Sun is shining, there’s a nice breeze...

Someone calls out of the blue (always nice to hear Tanya’s voice). I call a couple of friends to commiserate. Brutal thing to discuss the previous day’s events but, fortunately I have people in my life who’ll listen.

The day goes by and the evening is better than the day before.

Today, I pop into the city and make the rounds - lunch, coffee, a drop in and more coffee. I distribute some of the hidden treasures uncovered during the “big dig.” And again, the weather is beautiful. The city has a wonderful vibe and you can see people are enjoying the day after all the rainy weather over the last few months.

I look back on the last few days and size up how I acted under the stress and I come away feeling good about things. During the day I find myself laughing a bit and later as I walk up to Grand Central along Park Avenue there’s just that nice feeling you can get on a good day in the early evening in Manhattan when the weather is just right and all the lights are on and everything looks like some movie from the 50’s.

So, even on one of those really bad days, you can come back and if you hold out.

There is this really good band on Letterman now. As I’m watching it though (and watching the cuts and moves) it occurs to me on these shows that they pretty much always show bands the same way and it never seems to do the band any justice.

Everybody has like, say the ten most horrible days of their lives.

I had a day today that I think would easily rank up in the top 5.

I was flipping channels today and I saw this on one of those VH-1 I love the 70’s shows. I vaguely remember having one of these as a kid and thinking how great it was to have a radio that resembled a dynamite plunger box. Nevermind I came across some old 8-tracks in the big ongoing clean thing, I haven’t listened to them but I was thinking I shouldn’t just throw them out (although they’re pretty close to that right now).

Thought for the day:

Anyone care to speculate how many years it will take before we have sale days on September 11th? Is there any holiday or day of observance in our society that’s safe from that kind of stuff?

I was going to take a shot at writing some headlines for ads but it was just too crass so I’ll leave it to your imagination.

I had seen part of Georgie Jrs. speech and I couldn’t resist, insufferable me.

Hey, since all this 9-11 stuff is going to inundate us over the next few days, I have one question to ask that’s never really been answered to my satisfaction:

Does anybody really believe these guys could go four for four?

I mean, is it even possible that Al Queda could manage to be 100% successful in the attacks that day? Isn’t it much more realistic to think they were something like 30% successful.

If that’s the case, what happened to all the other guys (teams) that were out there? I don’t recall hearing anything about guys that they stopped that day (outside of the one guy up in Minnesota who only wanted to learn how to make the plane take off and not how to land the damn thing).

It means if we have 19 hijackers on 4 planes (Zacarias Moussaoui makes an even 20) and the hijackers were only 30% successful then they had targeted about 13 or 14 flight with 65 to 70 men.

What happened to the other hijackers?

There’s an enemy...

I don’t know where he is.

I don’t know how big his numbers are.

He’s everywhere. He’s nowhere.

But, he’s out there.

Give me the money to find him.

There’s a war...

I don’t know how long it will last.

I don’t know where it will take us.

I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to win it.

I don’t know how many of our own will die fighting it.

But, you’ll never be safe, unless you give me money to fight it.

You’ll have to make sacrifices if you want to be safe...

You’ll go into debt.

I won’t be able to pay for schools... or roads... or other things you might need.

But, you’ll be safe... maybe.

Just give me the money...

Don’t ask me how much...

Don’t ask me for how long...

Don’t make me accountable in any way...

Pay me and I’ll make it all go away... maybe.

Welcome to the new millenium,

welcome to the war against terrorism.

Logic need not apply.

This Rocket’s a Dud!



Ouch! That’s gotta hurt! (pardon me while I surpress a grin)

So, every time I run into a Yankee fan, they comment on how none of this matters because, “We all know where Boston is going to wind up at the end of the season.” Hmmmm... first place, maybe?

We got up to Boston earlier in the year and took in a game at Fenway.

One thing that struck me watching the Red Sox was that they had a tough lineup. It just seemed as if the guys in the Boston lineup were tough outs all the way up and down the order.

The thing I couldn’t understand is that none of the guys in the lineup were guys who were “superstars.” Maybe good players - Todd Walker, David Ortiz, Kevin Millar, Lou Merloni, Gabe Kapler, Bill Mueller, Doug Mirabelli, Darren Jackson and Trot Nixon but that was about all. The feeling was once you got past Johnny Damon, Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez there wasn’t anything that would instill fear in another team.

Then again, baseball being the team sport that it is, sometimes the sum of all the parts is of greater value than the individual pieces and that’s the way it’s looking with the Red Sox this year. The big knock on the Sox when we saw them was that their pitching was thin. Not weak, just not studly, particularly in the bullpen.

Then again over the last two games this is the Yankee pitching line:

NY Yankees
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	Season ERA
A. Pettitte	2.1	9	8	8	3	5	0	4.35
J. Weaver	4.2	5	1	1	1	3	0	5.93
J. De Paula	2.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
R. Clemens	3.1	7	7	5	2	2	2	4.18
C. Hammond	2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	3.00
F. Heredia	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.97
A. Osuna	1.2	2	2	2	0	2	0	3.89
G. White	1.1	2	2	2	0	1	1	4.29

Looking at that line, it doesn’t seem like Boston is the only team with a thin pitching staff.

Yankee fans gloated during the teams’ incredible run for four years. There’s no denying how dominant the Yankees were. The heart of that team is gone now (O’Neil, Brosius and Martinez). Mind you, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Andy Petite, Mariano Rivera and the Yankees very own matinee idol Derek Jeter still remain but, pitchers aren’t known for carrying teams (in the case of Petite and Rivera) and the position players in question aren’t the kind of guys to carry a team.

“Team Captain” Derek Jeter is particularly called into question now, it’s time for a gut-check. If the Yankees are going to go all the way this year, Jeter as team captain is going to have to put the team on his back and carry them there - not Soriano, not Giambi, not Williams, it all comes down to Jeter.

What I can’t understand is why Sterling Hitchcock got traded and wasn’t given an opportunity to pitch every fifth day - too many high priced pitchers forced Hitchcock to a long man’s role which he was ill suited for. Being saddled with the Weaver/Contreras conundrum has confused the situation even further. Now, if Wells manages to lose tomorrow, figure on seeing George in the paper on Monday calling him a fat, pussy toad.

With a $180 million payroll and a possibility that the Yankees will miss the playoffs could they take the title of “The Worst Team Money Could Buy” from the 1992 Mets? Nevermind that this could be Joe Torre and Brian Cashman’s swan song.

Stay tuned sports fans.

"The only thing worse than a Mets game, is a Mets doubleheader." — Casey Stengel (the old perfesser), Mets manager in 1962.

The Detroit Tigers are on their way to breaking a Mets record. Thank you Detroit - one more thing to bring happiness in the 2003 baseball season.

Pity Poor Joe Torre.



More baseball stuff: I had to laugh yesterday reading about Joe Torre bemoaning his lot managing the Yankees this season. Torre, the beneficiary of a lot of Buck Showalter and Gene Michael‘s hard work is now faced with the task of proving just how good a manager he is this season.

The Yankees with baseball’s biggest payroll are finding out they can’t buy championships like they thought they could.

Poor Yankees… poor, poor Yankees.

Maybe the Yankees will go all the way but, they’re looking awfully beatable now. Sure they have the American League’s best record (not by much though) but, look at their record versus Boston, Seattle, Chicago, Oakland and Kansas City this year.

More on WTC…

I was one of those who thought we should build something even bigger to replace what was there and I still feel that way. If we did, “Wouldn’t it be a target?” some people would ask. The only thing I can think to say in reply is, we can’t live in fear.

There will always be people that don’t like us as a nation, hell there are times I don’t like us as a nation and I live here! Still, we can’t live our lives in fear. We have to move forward, to learn from our past and to make things better in the future, if there’s one thing we can take away from the whole thing, let that be it, to do better.

If I had my way, I’d build something that was a cousin to the Empire State Building, or even a big brother so the Empire State Building didn’t look so alone in the skyline. Something that would balance out the skyline. I didn’t think much of the World Trade Center when it was there and I’ve lived in and around New York all my life but, I sure miss those building now that they’re gone.

It just doesn’t look right (the skyline that is). I spent several years driving in and around the city and I can remember how the city looked from all the different ways you approach it - whether over the BQE, out along the turnpike in Jersey, cresting the bridge over the train yards in the Bronx, on trains or on planes we’re missing something and it won’t be right until something is there in its place.

I also don’t mean to do a disservice to anyone who died there. I’d make the bottom 20 or 30 stories of the building a huge open space with a statue (really, really large one) depicting the firefighters and policeman who gave their lives helping people. The perimeter of where the buildings stood would be marked with a waist high rail. Along the top of the rail would be an angled surface with the pictures, names, biographical data and country of origin of the people lost in the event.

All four sides of this open space would have huge glass surfaces allowing light into the area and letting the memorial be visible from outside the structure. Somewhere around the fortieth floor would be a publicly accessible roof park/garden. Basically the lower portion of the building would be a base for a more slender spire rising up out of that base.

Anyway, I procrastinate on these things but, that’s what I’d do.

One other thing I’ll be sure to do though… I won’t forget that day (I don’t think any of us will).

Shhhh…

I haven't talked about them lately but, the Mets swept the Braves for the first time since 1995.

Yeah, I know they’re way, way out of it but, they’ve been a lot more fun to watch these last few weeks since they bought the kids up. Actually, the worst part of watching the Mets the last few weeks was seeing Jose Reyes come up after getting his spike caught sliding into second the other day. He’s really been a joy to watch this season, a real bright spot (him and Jason Phillips).

Anyway, I have to admit, I’m liking the team and I’m liking their chances for next year. Now, if only they can sign Andy Petite and Gary Sheffield in the off-season.

Everybody has their story:

I was working over at Landor when the attack happened.

Anyone who was in New York that day will tell you it was one of the most perfect days weather-wise imaginable. It was a beautifully sunny, mild day, the air was fresh and had a tiny breath of cool in it hinting of the approach of autumn.

As is normally the case, I was frantically trying to make it to Tarrytown to catch a train, running oh-so-close to missing it. As circumstance would have it, the radio was on WCBS so I could keep track of the time. Just as I passed the hospital on the north side of Sleepy Hollow they broadcasted a plane had hit one of the WTC towers.

At first, it occurred to me (as would be the case with many New Yorkers) some idiot in a small plane on a sightseeing expedition had engaged in “distracted flying” (much like distracted driving), strayed to close to the building and made a name for him or herself with their stupidity.

My speculation was interrupted by a roadblock the local police had set up. Moaning over the inconvenience (and slightly nervous by the prospect of getting some undeserved ticket), I hastily strapped myself in while making my way as the police checked for lapsed registration and unbelted drivers.

Getting through the roadblock, the radio announcer noted in a bewildered tone, the station was “getting reports a second plane had hit the towers.” The words removed any sense of an accident from my thoughts, something very bad was happening. Of course, not being around a TV, I thought two small planes hit the buildings, in my most wild imaginings I couldn’t think passenger jets would be used as weapons.

Finding a parking space, I hurriedly gathered myself and ran the block or so to the station platform. The nagging feeling it might be a good day just to skip going in, whatever was going on started to creep up on me. It could be a rough day to get in and out of the city. Besides, I had already been through my share of snowstorms, hurricanes, floods, decapitations and multi-car accidents. Something goes on in those situations, I can’t really explain it, except to say there’s an analysis going on, a taking stock of what’s happening and figuring out the worst case scenario.

I put my walkman on and listened intently while the news reports just kept coming and getting worse and worse. The surreal part was standing on a train platform in the suburbs as people walked around unaware that anything was even wrong. It was just a really beautiful morning and people were waiting for their train on they’re way to work, simple as you please. Crowded as any other day, most people just had a sip of their coffee or buried themselves in the paper passing the last few moments of ignorance as the train slowly pulled in.

The train I was catching goes express after Tarrytown and boarding, people on the train were just unaware of what awaited them in Manhattan that day. Could you imagine watching what happened on TV and then getting on a train to take you into Manhattan?

I sat in the back of a the first car as the train pulled out. Shortly, a passenger came through, having had an animated conversation with the motorman. When he came closer I asked him if the motorman said whether or not we’d be going in to Grand Central and he replied we’d probably be the last train in.

Several of the passengers around me looked up, getting concerned and asked why we’d be the last train into Grand Central. The man and I replied because we were under attack.

Before the train pulled into Yonkers (the next station), they reported a plane had flown into the Pentagon. I figured whatever was going on, I wasn’t going into the city. As the people around me pressed for more information, I made it plainly clear to them the wisest course of action would be to get off at the next station and to catch the next train going north which is what I (and as it turned out a lot of other people) did.

The platform at the Yonkers station on the Hudson line is right on the river. It’s at a point in the river where if you go further south the river curves in eastward to the northern tip of Manhattan and then the coast of Manhattan juts back out west. It gives you a really beautiful view of the skyline of the city as you look south.

Looking down the river from the southbound platform, instead of the familiar skyline I was used to, I saw what appeared to be two enormous chimney stacks belching smoke as if from some monstrous factory, plumes reaching impossible heights. Everyone on the platform just looked at the sight of the two buildings aflame in disbelief.

I tried to find a phone - of course none was working. I went back to the northbound platform and caught (what would turn out to be) the last train out of the city for several hours, back to where I had parked.

Ultimately, I found a working pay phone next to a phone switching building (which is something to keep in mind the next time you’re in a situation where the phones aren’t working the way they’re supposed to). I made phone calls to people I needed to and made my way home to watch those tapes replayed over and over as the day unfolded.

Things I remember from the days that followed:

• People were really, really nice to each other.

• Worrying whether someone I knew had been in the building.

• Walking around the city and seeing all those handbills put up by people trying to find other people.

• The nasty smell which reminded me of burning plastic that you would catch on a breeze when the wind shifted sometimes.

• The constant sound of sirens racing up and down the streets of Manhattan for weeks afterward.

• The empty, numbing feeling that persisted days after the attack.

• Everything south of 14th street being closed (the forbidden zone).

• Everything south of Houston being closed when they opened up the village, and seeing all the heavy equipment parked along Houston.

• Feeling very bad for the Pakistani taxi driver in the cab I took going out on night in the village.

• Walking up to meet a friend for lunch and forgetting the armory on 26th St. was the relief center for families, walking through a crowd of scared, grieving people with missing handbills and newsmen everywhere.

I feel pretty fortunate:

• I wasn’t in the city.

• A friend who worked in the building had taken that week off for vacation.

• A relative of a relative had a meeting canceled which would have put him right there when it happened.

Still, another friend lost her father.

My sister had three neighbors die (firefighters) leaving behind three families.

Everyone else I know or love was intact afterward…

Under the Don’t say I never gave you anything department:

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Free Expo only registration before 10/03/03 -

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vip code: EGCB1

This was originally one long entry but makes more sense as three separate ones:

Well, we’re a week away from the anniversary…

Just like the blackout we had last month is an event we mark time by, so too is the attack on the World Trade Center. The only reason I bring the subject up is I know between now and next Wednesday, we’ll find ourselves confronting the event once again as we mark two years since the attack.

There’s been a bunch of stories relating to the event lately. One article talks about how low the number of families has been to file claims with the Federal government for compensation over loss of their loved ones in the attack. Another noted the burial of a firefighter, his being the final one of a firefighter lost in WTC. Still another, was the dismissal of Duetsche Bank’s suit against the city for property damage due to the attack. Then, there was the article noting how much the site has changed in the ensuing two years.

A week or so ago, the Port Authority released transcripts made from the buildings by people seeking help. In some circles it was viewed as morbid and unnecessary (and I can understand where someone who grieved would not want to be reminded or hear the last minutes of their loved ones) but, there are some incredible tales of courage. While I understood the reasons against making the transcripts public, it occurred to me how important it is for us to remember what happened (not to walk away or hide from 09/11/01).

Interesting article on misdirected web traffic.

Somebody explain this logic to me, abortion protestor doesn’t agree with the fact that abortion is legal - believes it’s taking a life. So, goes out and kills a doctor who performs abortions. Then, the state turns around and executes the abortion protestor. This is all supposed to be an argument based around the value of life?

News highlight of the day:



If you want to be a success, you have to be willing to get a little egg on your face (or lapel as the case may be).